Impacts Of Population Growth On The Household Farm Land Size And Land Management Among Gida Ayana Woreda Rural Farm Householders In East Wellega Zone

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of population growth on household land size and land management system. To address the objective a cross-sectional survey design was used with mixed data analysis method; 881 sample was taken from three different kebeles under multistage sampling techniques while the sample size of the study was determined by using Taro Yemane’s (1967) sample size determination formula; questionnaire, key informant interview and focus group discussion were employed to gather data from the participants; the gathered data was analyzed under descriptive data analysis method where frequency, percentage and correlation were used. The analyzed data revealed that the family size has been increased within ten years almost by 10% (33.3%-42.1%) but the land size of the households within the same years. Although most households indicated they have land but this land is not enough to support their family adequately. Further, the study revealed that most households (83.4%) have small sized land which was minimized by the family size increment; according the analyzed data the land size of most households become less than half an hectar; the study also found that though most households have hints to manage their small size land, their annual crop production (particularly consumption product, teff and maize) showed decrease from year to year; contrary to this the market based crop (oil crop, nug) increased which in turn fluctuated the annual income of the households; in a nutshell, the study identified that there is negatively significant relationship between the population growth and the land size of the households. As a result, it was concluded that as the population increases the land size of the households decreases and vice versa which also fluctuates the production amount of the households. Therefore, it was recommended that the concerned bodies should work in advance to train the households manage their small land towards increase its production particularly by increasing its fertility through scientific techniques.